A list of curious facts
One: Back in the day—as in, early 20th century—French knife-grinders had to lie on their stomach to whet their knives against sand stones. Otherwise, their backs would start to ache. What’s even odder: their dogs were allowed to lie on them to keep them warm. FYI: they were known as ‘yellow bellies’. Above is a photo from 1902. Below you can see a wider view of what the work looked like. (Buzzfeed News)
Two: Back in 1922, US newspapers published a shocking jugaad used by citizens trying to evade Prohibition. Most moonshiners brewed their booze in the middle of meadows—and cops often followed their footprints. The solution: a cow shoe:
But this is the really curious bit: “Officers believe the inventor got his idea from a Sherlock Holmes story in which the villain shod his horse with shoes the imprint of which resembled those of a cow’s hoof.” Excellent!
Three: Ok, this one is going to blow your mind. Did you know that Formula One drivers blink almost at the same time? It may not sound like much, but when you are driving at some ridiculous speed, a blink of an eye is a very long time:
The world goes dark for about one-fifth of a second every time you blink, a fraction of an instant that’s hardly noticeable to most people. But for a Formula One race car driver travelling up to 354 kilometres per hour, that one-fifth means almost 20 metres of lost vision.
It turns out that race car drivers have learned to blink only in certain moments: they do not blink while changing speed or direction—like while on a curve in the track—but blink away on relatively safer straightaways. It’s quite insane if you step back and think about how some humans control the most unconscious behaviour for that tiny bit of advantage. (Science News)
